Bed and cylinder printing mechanism with means for adjusting anvil height

ABSTRACT

Imprinting apparatus in which a movable platen traverses a path of travel passing over an anvil and the anvil is selectively positioned with respect to the path of travel by a slide member having an inclined surface which is complementary to a corresponding inclined surface on the anvil and which engages the corresponding inclined surface of the anvil to raise or lower the anvil in response to lateral movement of the slide member. The platen is removably mounted upon a bracket carried by a carriage which traverses a guide track raised above the anvil and the bracket and platen are offset with respect to the guide track to laterally space the path of travel of the platen from the guide track and thus expose the anvil for ease of access thereto.

United States Patent Primary ExaminerWilliam B. Penn AssistantExaminerE. M. Coven Attorneys-Samuelson & Jacob and Kenneth E. FormanABSTRACT: Imprinting apparatus in which a movable platen traverses apath of travel passing over an anvil and the anvil is selectivelypositioned with respect to the path of travel by a slide member havingan inclined surface which is complementary to a corresponding inclinedsurface on the anvil and which engages the corresponding inclinedsurface of the anvil to raise or lower the anvil in response to lateralmovement of the slide member. The platen is removably mounted upon abracket carried by a carriage which traverses a guide track raised abovethe anvil and the bracket and platen are offset with respect to theguide track to laterally space the path of travel of the platen from theguide track and thus expose the anvil for ease of access thereto.

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sum 1 OF 3 I0 T3:'.l. 20 2 \HVENTUF? WILLIAM A. PENALUNA PATENTED DDT 5ISYI SHEET 2 BF 3 WILLIAM A PENALUNR BED AND CYLINDER PRINTING MECHANISMWITH MEANS FOR ADJUSTING ANVIL HEIGHT The present invention relatesgenerally to printing apparatus and pertains, more specifically, toapparatus for imprinting infonnation carried by printing elementstemporarily placed within such apparatus upon items which are juxtaposedwith such printing elements in the apparatus.

An increasing number of commercial transactions are being made on creditrather than by the payment of cash, especially in the area of retailmarketing where the use of printing elements such as credit cards orcharge plates has become prevalent. These printing elements usuallycarry embossed or otherwise raised characters which. identify theaccount which is to be charged and provide other pertinent information.A transaction which involves the use of such a card or plate generallyincludes the imprinting of such information upon a business form.

Imprinting is usually accomplished by placing both the printing elementand the business form upon an anvil of an imprinting machine andmanually moving a platen over the juxtaposed element and form to pressthe business form against the printing element and obtain an impressionof the raised characters upon the form.

The pressure placed upon the juxtaposed printing element and businessform by the traverse of the platen should be confined to a prescribedoptimum range. Because there is a variation in the thickness of thevariety of printing elements and business fomts placed within such animprinting apparatus, it has become important to enable easy adjustmentof the spacing between the anvil and the overlying platen to accommodatea particular thickness of printing element and business form withoutdeviating from the prescribed range of imprinting pressures.

Additionally, since it is desirable that transactions involving the useof credit cards, charge plates and the like be carried out rapidly andwith convenience, such imprinting apparatus should provide maximum easein the placement of the printing element and the business form intoproper registration within the apparatus. Maintenance should also befacilitated.

It is therefore an important object of the invention to provideimprinting apparatus in which an anvil is readily adjustably positionedwith respect to the path of travel of a platen to assure that optimumspacing is obtained between the platen and the anvil and imprintingpressures will be held to an optimum range for a variety of thicknessesof printing elements and business forms.

Another object of the invention is to provide imprinting apparatuswherein an anvil or anvils are selectively moveable upwardly ordownwardly with respect to the path of travel of a platen by means of asimple operating control in order to provide maximum ease and obtainoptimum imprinting with a chosen combination of printing element andbusiness form.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an imprintingapparatus in which the structural arrangement of the platen and platensupport construction establishes a high degree of structural rigidity,yet provides ready access to the anvil for ease in placement of theprinting element and business form in proper registration within theapparatus and in the removal of the printing element and business formfrom the apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide an imprinting apparatusin which increased access to the anvil area is achieved by laterallyoffsetting the platen itself from the structure which supports theplaten over the anvil so as to expose the anvil by virtue of the lateralspacing of the platen and the anvil from the platen support structure.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an imprintingapparatus of the type described above wherein the platen may readily beremoved from the apparatus for ease of maintenance andinterchangeability.

Another object of the invention is to provide an imprinting I apparatusof simplified design and construction having a minimum number ofcomponent parts of simplified configuration for economy of manufactureand ease of use.

The above objects, as well as further objects and advantages, areattained by the invention which may be described briefly as providing inan imprinting apparatus wherein a printing element and an article to beprinted upon are placed over a base in the apparatus and located betweenan anvil and a platen which moves along the path of travel extendingacross the base and the anvil, means for selectively positioning theanvil with respect to the path of travel of the platen to adjust thespacing between the anvil and the path of travel of the platen, themeans comprising a member mounted for movement between the base and theanvil in a lateral direction and having an inclined surface engaging acorresponding surface of the anvil, the corresponding surface of theanvil being inclined and complementary to the inclined surface of thelaterally moveable member such that lateral movement of the member willdisplace the anvil toward or away from the path of travel of the platen,means biasing the corresponding surface of the anvil toward the inclinedsurface of the laterally moveable member, and means for moving themember to a selected position corresponding to the desired position ofthe anvil. The imprinting apparatus may be provided with a frame risingfrom the base and a guide track carried by the frame and extendinglaterally from the frame over a portion of the base, a carriage mountedfor movement along the guide track, the platen being carried by thecarriage for movement along the path of travel extending acros theanvil, the platen being offset laterally with respect to the guide trackand the carriage such that the platen extends beyond the portion of thebase over which the guide track extends and at least a portion of thepath of travel of the platen lies laterally beyond the overlying guidetrack, at least a portion of the anvil being juxtaposed with the portionof the path of travel of the platen which lies laterally beyond theoverlying guide track. In addition, the carriage may include a bracket,and the platen includes a platen roller carried upon an axle passingthrough the roller and through the bracket to mount the roller on thebracket, and resiliently deflectable detent means removably retainingthe axle within the bracket for selective removal of the axle and theplaten roller from the bracket.

The invention will be more fully understood, and still further objectsand advantages of the invention will become apparent in the followingdetailed description of an embodiment of the invention illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an imprinting apparatus constructed inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a further enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a further enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a further enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawing, and especially to FIGS. 1 and 2, animprinting apparatus is shown in the form of imprinter 10 having a frame12 which includes a base 14 to which there is attached a tray 16. Thebase 14 is provided with a plurality of depending feet 18 which enablethe imprinter 10 to be placed upon a tabletop, or upon a counter or uponsome other working surface. A pair of bumpers 20 project rearwardly fromthe base 14 of the imprinter so as to preclude direct contact betweenthe rear 22 of the base and any adjacent upstanding wallv The frame 12includes an upright portion 24 at either side 26 thereof and the uprightportions 24 each include an arm 28 extending laterally out over the base14 and tray 16. Mounted between the arms 28 is a horizontal beam member30 which includes a pair of opposed guide tracks 32 extendinghorizontally over the width of the base 14. A carriage 34 is mounted formovement within the guide tracks 32 by means of a plurality of rollers36 placed within the guide tracks 32 and carried by roller shafts 38journaled within upright projections 40 of the carriage 34. The carriage34 carries a housing 42 which encircles a major portion of the peripheryof the horizontal beam member 30 and a handle 44 projects verticallyupwardly from the housing 42 to provide actuating means by which thecarriage may be advanced manually horizontally along the guide tracks 32between opposite ends 46 and 48 of the horizontal beam member 30.

The carriage 34 includes a bracket 50 having downwardly depending legs52 in which there is joumaled an axle 54 which, in turn, carries aplaten shown in the form of a roller 56. The bracket 50 is offsetlaterally outwardly in a forward direction with respect to thehorizontal beam member 30 and the guide tracks 32 carried thereby suchthat as the carriage is moved along the horizontal beam member theplaten roller 56 will follow a path of travel at least a portion ofwhich lies beyond the vertical projection of the outermost orforwardmost edge 58 of the horizontal beam member 30 upon the base 14lying below the horizontal beam member.

Lying directly below the path-of travel of the platen roller 56 are apair of anvil assemblies 60, each assembly 60 including an anvil 62placed within the anvil frame 64 which extends around the entireperiphery of the anvil with the exception of.

the portion of the periphery of the anvil which includes a notch 66lying adjacent an access channel 68 within the anvil frame 64. Aprinting element 70, such as a credit card or charge plate, havingraised characters 71 may be placed within the anvil frame 64 and uponthe anvil 62 with the raised characters projecting upwardly toward thepath of travel of the platen roller 56. An item which is to beimprinted, such as a business form 72, may then be placed upon tray 16with at least a portion of the item lying over the printing element 70and the imprinting apparatus may be actuated by grasping the handle 44and moving the carriage 34 along the horizontal beam member 30 toadvance the platen roller 56 along it path of travel over the base 14and across the anvil assemblies 60 and the juxtaposed printing element70 and business form 72. The anvil frame 64 positively registers theprinting element 70 in proper location with respect to the path oftravel of the platen roller 56 since the printing element will be placedwithin the anvil frame and upon the anvil 62. The access channel 68 andnotch 66 enable the operator to reach into the anvil frame 64 and gripthe printing element 70 so that the printing element may be easilyremoved from the anvil frame,

It is noted that a pair of anvil assemblies 60 are provided, each ofwhich is identical so that corresponding parts of the anvil assembliesare labeled with corresponding reference characters. In this instance,one of the anvil assemblies may be made to carry a printing element 70?which remains in place for all transactions and carries raisedcharacters which supply information pertaining to the particularestablishment where a transaction is made; for example, the name of aretail store or a particular department in a large store. The otheranvil assembly will then be made to carry only temporarily a credit cardor charge plate belonging to a customer who is a party to thetransaction recorded in the business form which is placed within theimprinter.

It will be seen that both anvil assemblies 60 are exposed with respectto the horizontal beam member 30 since the assemblies extend in aforward direction outwardly beyond the vertical projection of the frontedge 58 of the horizontal beam member 30 by virtue of the ofi'setconstruction of the carriage 34.

As'the platen roller 56 passes over the juxtaposed printing element 70and business form 72, the platen roller will exert an imprintingpressure which actually accomplishes the printing of the informationcarried by the printing element upon the business form. The magnitude ofthe printing pressure may be regulated by the vertical spacing betweenthe periphery of the platen roller and the uppermost surface of theprinting element. Since printing elements may vary in thickness, thisspacing may be varied and such variations will produce concomitantvariations in the imprinting pressure. In order to keep the printingpressure within an acceptable range, imprinter provides means foradjusting the position of the anvil 62 with respect to the path oftravel of the platen roller 56 so that the vertical spacing between theuppermost surface 74 of the anvil and the periphery of the platen rollermay be selectively adjusted to accommodate the thickness of a particularcombination of printing element and business form.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the anvil frame 64 of each anvilassembly 60 includes an integral bottom 76. Interposed between thebottom 76 of the anvil frame and the anvil 62 is a wedge-shaped slidemember 80 which includes an inclined surface in the form of a planarsurface 82 lying at an angle to the horizontal bottom 76 of the anvilframe and which engages a corresponding inclined planar surface 84 onthe lower surface of the anvil 62. A pair of pins shown in the form ofmachine screws 86 project downwardly from the anvil 62 and pass throughlaterally extending slots 87 in the slide member 80, through the bottom76 of the anvil frame and through the base 14 and are urged downwardlyby means of helical springs 88 which are in compression between the base14 and a retaining nut 90carried by each of the machine screws 86. Atthe same time, a pair of helical springs 92 which are in compressionbetween the base 14 and the bottom 76 of the anvil frame 64 urge theanvil frame upwardly so that the inclined surface 84 of the anvil 62 andthe inclined surface 82 of the slide member 80 are resiliently biasedtoward one another.

Depending downwardly from the lower surface 94 of the slide member 80 isa finger 96 which slideably engages a slot 98 in one end 99 of a lever[00 mounted for pivotal movement with respect to the base 14 at 102 andhaving an opposite end 103 which passes through a slot 104 in the baseportion 106 of the frame 12, which end 103 carries a knob 108. The levermay be pivoted between two positions as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 by virtueof the pivotal mounting at 102 which includes a tongue I10 projectingdownwardly from the lever I00 and engaging an opening 112 in the base14. The opening II2 has a lemniscatelike configuration providing a firstpair of shoulders l 14 which engage the downwardly depending tongue I10and delineate the first position of the lever 100 and a second pair ofshoulders 116 which engage the downwardly depending tongue when thelever 100 is pivoted to delineate the second position of the lever.

As the lever 100 is moved between the first and second positions, thefinger 96 is moved between the two positions illustrated in FIGS. 3 and4, and the slide member 80 is moved in a lateral direction to effect araising or lowering of the anvil 62. Thus, the vertical spacing betweenthe path of travel of the platen roller 56 and the uppermost surface 74of the anvil may be varied between a minimum spacing of S and a maximumspacing of T (see FIG. 3). I

As the platen roller 56 passes over each of the anvil assemblies 60, theanvil assemblies are each urged downwardly until the bottom 76 of eachanvil frame 64 is seated upon four studs 120 which are fixed in placeupon the base 14. These studs 120 are threaded and are locked in placeby means of locking nuts 122 which may be loosened to reposition each ofthe studs 120 and thereby adjust the actual magnitude of the minimumspacing S and the maximum spacing T. Thus, the operator may set thestuds 120 so that either the maximum spacing T or the minimum spacing Swill coincide with one extreme or the other of a permissible range forthe vertical spacing between the periphery of the platen roller 56 andthe anvil 62 and the adjusting mechanism which includes the slide member80 and the pivoted lever 100 may be utilized to adjust the level of theupper surface 74 of the anvil 62 within that range. The anvil 62 isprovided with downwardly depending projections 124 which pass throughapertures 126 in the base 14 so as to provide lateral stability andconfine the movement of the anvil to the vertical direction.

Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 5, the platen roller 56 may quickly andeasily be removed from imprinter 10 by merely removing the axle 54 fromthe bracket 50. The axle 54 is provided with a knob 130 at one endthereof and an annular groove 132 at the other end thereof. Placedwithin the annular groove 132 is a resiliently deformable ring 134,which is preferably fabricated of an elastomer, such that by drawingupon the knob 130, the axle 54 may be displaced axially to the left asseen in FIG. 5 thereby radially compressing the ring 134 into theannular groove 132 and allowing the axle to be pulled from the bracket50 and from the platen roller 56 to free the platen roller from thebracket. Thus, the platen roller may be removed for cleaning or forreplacement with a minimum of effort.

The above detailed description of an embodiment of the invention isprovided by way of example only. Various details of design andconstruction may be modified without departing from the true spirit andscope of the invention which is set forth in the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A manually operated imprinting machine comprising:

a frame including a base for receiving an item to be printed upon;

an anvil on said base for carrying a printing element;

a platen mounted for movement upon said frame along a path of travelextending in a plane across the base and over the anvil;

said anvil having a surface inclined relative to said plane in a lateraldirection extending parallel to said plane between the base and the pathof travel of the platen;

a slide member mounted between the base and the anvil for movement in alateral direction and having an inclined surface complementary to andengaging the inclined surface of the anvil such that lateral movement ofthe slide member will raise or lower the anvil with respect to the pathof travel of the platen;

a lever;

means mounting said lever upon the frame for pivotal movement parallelto said plane and including a lever portion movable between first andsecond laterally spaced positions in response to said pivotal movementof the lever, said lever portion being coupled with said slide memberfor moving the slide member to a selected position corresponding to thedesired position of the anvil relative to the path of travel of theplaten; and

spring means resiliently biasing the inclined surface of the anvil andthe inclined surface of the slide member toward one another;

said means mounting the lever upon the frame including an opening insaid base, said opening having a lemniscatelike configuration includinga first pair of shoul ders and a second pair of shoulders opposite tosaid first pair of shoulders; and

a tongue projecting from said lever and into said opening such that thetongue will engage one of said first and second pairs of shoulders whenthe lever is in the first lateral position thereof and will engage theother of said pairs of shoulders when in the second lateral positionthereof whereby pivotal movement of the lever is limited to movementbetween said first and second lateral positions by engagement of saidtongue with said shoulders.

1. A manually operated imprinting machine comprising: a frame includinga base for receiving an item to be printed upon; an anvil on said basefor carrying a printing element; a platen mounted for movement upon saidframe along a path of travel extending in a plane across the base andover the anvil; said anvil having a surface inclined relative to saidplane in a lateral direction extending parallel to said plane betweenthe base and the path of travel of the platen; a slide member mountedbetween the base and the anvil for movement in a lateral direction andhaving an inclined surface complementary to and engaging the inclinedsurface of the anvil such that lateral movement of the slide member willraise or lower the anvil with respect to the path of travel of theplaten; a lever; means mounting said lever upon the frame for pivotalmovement parallel tO said plane and including a lever portion movablebetween first and second laterally spaced positions in response to saidpivotal movement of the lever, said lever portion being coupled withsaid slide member for moving the slide member to a selected positioncorresponding to the desired position of the anvil relative to the pathof travel of the platen; and spring means resiliently biasing theinclined surface of the anvil and the inclined surface of the slidemember toward one another; said means mounting the lever upon the frameincluding an opening in said base, said opening having a lemniscatelikeconfiguration including a first pair of shoulders and a second pair ofshoulders opposite to said first pair of shoulders; and a tongueprojecting from said lever and into said opening such that the tonguewill engage one of said first and second pairs of shoulders when thelever is in the first lateral position thereof and will engage the otherof said pairs of shoulders when in the second lateral position thereofwhereby pivotal movement of the lever is limited to movement betweensaid first and second lateral positions by engagement of said tonguewith said shoulders.